This Is What Killing Democracy Looks Like: Ryan Wherley on WI AB225

AB225: This is What Killing Democracy Looks Like:

A Call to Action at the Capitol on Tuesday

by Ryan Wherley

Wisconsin Assembly Bill 225 (AB225) is quite possibly the most
reprehensible bill that has been brought before the legislature since
the thugs in Fitzwalkerstan took over Wisconsin in January 2011.
Rather than do the dirty work of decimating our democratic process and
electoral system in a series of terrible bills designed to take away
the rights of citizens, Repugnant Representative Jeff Stone has
decided to do away with everything in one fell swoop, in an
all-encompassing bill to dismantle democracy.

There is a verse in the daily Solidarity Sing Along version of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" that reads:

Oh, I followed every action,
Tried to hold up and be brave.
But I could not hide my sorrow
When democracy was slain.

If
the fateful night of March 9th, 2011, when the Republican Senate
stripped the fiscal items out of the Budget Repair Bill and passed Act
10 in the middle of the night without any Democrats present, wasn't the
moment that democracy in Wisconsin was slain, then the day that AB225
passes will be.

From the PR Watch article on the bill:

"The
legislation is "so huge, covers so much ground, and has so many
independently controversial parts of it," that it appears "intended to
cut-out any public input or to render [that input] meaningless," says
Andrea Kaminski, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of
Wisconsin."

To make things even worse, this awful,
sweeping legislation was presented last week and is being rammed
through with its lone public hearing at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 4th in the Capitol in room 417 North (GAR Hall).
Conveniently enough, this lone, time-restricted hearing was chosen to
be held at the EXACT SAME TIME that the Joint Finance Committee is
discussing just how far down the rabbit hole they wish to go in
destroying our public schools system through private school voucher
expansion. What a fucking surprise.

The bill introduced by
Jeff Stone is straight out of the ALEC playbook and an all-out,
full-frontal assault on democracy. Government of the people, by the
people and for the people? That's a dirty phrase in the Republican
party caucus. Here's what this bill entails:

Re-institutes
voter I.D. restrictions while humiliatingly forcing people to sign
something saying they are too poor to afford voting identification;

Virtually eliminates the ability to recall elected municipal and school officials;

Establishes
the right of corporations to donate to election campaigns with
impunity, essentially cementing the U.S. Supreme Court FEC v.
Citizens United ruling at the state level...further protecting
corporations' shady political activities in Wisconsin.

This
is absolutely outrageous. Needless to say, I am putting out the call
for as many people to get down to the Capitol on Tuesday as can
possibly get there. Wear red to support public education, attend the
JFC session, testify against AB225 or show up to officially register
your opposition, write and/or call your legislators, attend the
Solidarity Sing Along at noon, bring your most creative protest signs.
Most importantly...just do whatever you can possibly do to make your
voices heard.

Even if those in power refuse to listen, it
is our duty to bear witness to the destruction of our state and of our
rights. We must ensure that the historical record show that this
increasing slide into fascism was vehemently opposed by citizens who
expressed their dissent, disgust and defiance for the world to see.

I,
for one, outright refuse to stand idly by and allow them to quietly go
about their business of dismantling our state at an increasingly
rapid pace. It is not only our right, but our DUTY to stand up, speak
out and fight back against injustice wherever it lurks.

A
button I recently purchased states: “If you're not outraged, you're
not paying attention." Right now in Wisconsin, let's just say there is
a hell of a lot that Scott Walker and his legislative attack dogs are
doing over which to be outraged. What we're seeing play out right in
front of our eyes is much worse than what played out in 2011 and led to
the historically massive Budget Repair Bill protests, especially when
you consider that most of the terrible things they did and terrible
legislation they passed in the past two years are now in full effect.

These
are not partisan issues. These attacks are undoubtedly designed to go
after voting blocs who are voting against the national, extreme
right-wing agenda steamrolling across Wisconsin. However, in doing so,
the "Republican" saboteurs are unleashing attacks on the fundamental
framework of a successful democracy and on the basic rights of citizens
of our once-great and progressive-minded state.

On the day back in February that Scott Walker was scheduled to present his biennial budget to the state, I wrote:

"During
a particularly vindictive and ominous rant last January, Senate
Majority Leader and Walker rubber-stamp Scott Fitzgerald was quoted as
saying, 'If you think this budget was scary, wait until the next one.'

Well,
the “next one” is nearly upon us. If Feb. 11, 2011 was the day that
Scott Walker “dropped the bomb” on the citizens of Wisconsin, Feb. 20,
2013 will be the day Scott Walker unleashes the full nuclear arsenal at
his disposal. I don’t know how much more of Scott Walker’s “caring”
we will be able to withstand before irreparable harm has been done to
our once-progressive Wisconsin."

But it isn't just the
budget that is crushing us. The full nuclear arsenal has been unleashed
in a torrential wave of abominably regressive legislation out of every
committee in the legislature and in every corner of the budget. The time
for rest, self-pitying and heads buried in the sand has long since gone
by for the citizens of this state. It's time to wake the hell up and
join (or rejoin) the fight to reclaim Wisconsin from the throes of
tyranny. Lord knows the Teahadists in power most certainly aren't
planning on easing off the throttle any time soon.

I can't
wait to stare these tyrants in the face and give them a piece of my
mind when I testify against AB225 on Tuesday...even though they
assuredly won't like and more than likely won't even bother listening
to what I have to say. I will see you at the Capitol. FORWARD!!

UPDATE
(6/3/13): The Committee on Campaigns and Elections will also be taking
up Assembly Joint Resolution 25, "Relating to: recall of elected
officers and a code of ethics for government officials (first
consideration)" during this same hearing. This will assuredly be part
of the Fitzwalkerstanis' attempts to pass a constitutional amendment
outlawing recall of state-level elected officials for any reason other
than official criminal misconduct. So...yet another plot to rip the
democratic process out of the hands of the Wisconsin citizenry. Lucky
us.

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